I think it is as important to the fans that find it to be important to them. Although merchandising and overall box office numbers easily suggest Star Wars as a franchise has a much, MUCH bigger fanbase. I really don't see how even the most die hard Star Trek fan could come up with any kind of facts that would indicate that Star Trek is more popular.

But like I said, to the die hard Star Trek fans, I'm sure they find it just as "important" to oneself... if that makes sense.

As far as pure popularity goes, I think a better question would be... what's more popular or has a bigger fan base... The Marvel Universe or Star Wars... or something like that.

I love both franchises, which is why it's great to be a fan of both right now . If you are asking which is bigger in terms of volume of content, then Star Trek wins hands down. There are 11 (soon to be 12) movies, 6 TV series, and countless books (even more than Star Wars). Since this is a Star Wars forum, many here are obviously bigger fans of it, but from a purely objective standpoint, it is hard to say which one has a bigger impact on popular culture. There are a lot of iconic things from Star Wars that everyone knows about like 'may the force be with you' 'I am your father' lines, or the imagery of the Millenium Falcon and and the Death Star, the force, lightsabers, etc. but everyone knows how Kirk and Spock are also, and teleportation tech which is synonymous with Trek, and 'live long and prosper' is as much a quoted phrase as its force counterpart, and the name and image of the Enterprise is probably even bigger than that of the Falcon! Also, lucas himself has said that Star Trek was at least a small part of his inspiration for Star Wars. Then again, Roddenberry said that the success of the Star Trek movies can be partly attributed to Star Wars. I would say that their status in pop culture is just about equal.

While I think Star Trek has it's place is both sci-fi and culture legend, I hold-hearty believe that Star Wars has had a wider, longer, and more in-depth affect on American and world culture and sci-fi as a whole.

Star Wars.
But I'm also a Trekkie. I haven't watched a Trek episode in a while, but I still really like it.
Star Trek fits as a TV show. They show countless different scenarios and a lot of the stories are just life onboard the Enterprise and the relationships the crew has with each other. I've always hated the episodes that are centered around the Holodeck and like Piccard (yes I like TNG better) is all dressed up in a robin hood outfit, etc. It has nothing to do with Trek or space. Trek involves moral values, allusions to real-world problems, etc.

Star Wars, however, does better as flashy, awe-inspiring movies. Trek's "space battles" may be more of a sci-fi like battle and may be more realistic of the future, but it has NOTHING on the epic-level space battles in Star Wars. Trek just has phasers fired from the waist (never mind stormtroopers' horrible accuracy), and they always fire their torpedoes. Star Wars has massive battles, reminiscent of WWII, with tactics, explosions, dogfights, more explosions, and massive armies compiled together on ground and in space.

One thing I never really enjoyed about Star Trek is the whole "utopian" feel of it all. A machine can make food and drinks out of thin air. So when they are caught with no weapons, why can't they have that machine make them a weapon?
Everything in Star Trek is clean, perfect, and precise. Lots of hard-core science fiction franchises and novels have the atmosphere of utopian, where everyone is very solemn and quiet. It's like there's no fun or exciting things happening. You wouldn't expect an advertisement to pop up, or a flashy, fun entertainment thing to happen.

Whereas Star Wars, especially in the OT, has that "rugged" feeling to society. Maybe that's because everything in the OT was made as models and wasn't really CGI. But you just got this feeling that it was "real", because you could connect with it. Our real world isn't perfect, either.

The Enterprise looks very clean, sharp, smooth, and shiny, like it's never been attacked or went through an asteroid field or something. You look at the Millennium Falcon, or the Tantive IV, or even a Star Destroyer...it looks more real because it seems like it has been through a lot.

I like Star Wars because it comes right out and says that life isn't perfect. There is no utopian society. There's war and death and conflicts and smuggling and crime and drugs and fear and corruption and the list goes on and on...just like today.

And lots of people say Star Wars is just flashy BANG BANG action that follows a really unoriginal story, I guess part of that is right. But they forget about the Force. The Force is what makes Star Wars...well, Star Wars! The Jedi and Sith are followers of it. In fact, they follow it like a religion. They are monks to the "way of the Force".

Episode IV did follow the basic plot of a maiden is peril, and a knight who rescues her. But there was more to it as well.

I acknowledge that Star Trek is big, and perhaps-in the world of Astrophysics and technological development-it may have had a stronger impact than Star Wars...but as far as overall general popularity and Fanbase, Star Wars Is Way bigger Of a cultural phenomenon!!!

Star Trek has 5 generations of TV , more films than Star Wars , just as many fan books if not more fan books. And it has a ton of merchandise . I don't know which one in reality is a larger fan base.

Never seen a Star Trek toy at the retail stores. Star Wars is carried year round at any wal-mart or kmart I've been in. All the other action figures are trends based on if a movie is coming out... Spiderman, Iron Man, Batman. Otherwise those toys might not be carried at a particular time.

Boxofficemojo says a lot about what is more popular. Just because Star Trek might have more hours of content hardly means it is more popular. All six Star Wars movies rank in the top 49 domestically (I won't even go worldwide because it would probably be worse for Star Trek), with 3 of those movies residing in the top 17 all time. Star Trek has 1 movie in the top 200 and it ranks at #62 and that's the newest movie which wouldn't rank nearly as high in their adjusted gross earnings.